Love Ain’t Nothing But Sex Misspelled

Jeremy was her first real boyfriend. They’d been holding hands while walking to the bus stop after school for a month. Elisa knew her Mom and Dad wouldn’t let her date until she was 16, but that was almost a year away.

What would it be like to kiss him? She’d dreamed about her first kiss ever since she was little. Would he be the man she would marry? Would they have lots of kids and live happily ever after?

They took different buses to get home after school and her’s came first.

“See you tomorrow, Jeremy.”

“Bye, Elisa.”

She could tell he wanted to kiss her good-bye, but not with all these people watching. It would be embarrassing. Besides, when they kissed for the first time, she wanted it to be something special.

Elisa never imagined it would happen in Mike Kresky’s basement. Everyone at school knew that’s where kids went to make out. Mike’s parents were almost never home. His Dad had a job where he traveled a lot, and when Mike’s Dad was gone, Mike’s Mom was always out running “errands.”

Elisa told her parents she was going to study at Sheila’s house that Saturday afternoon. Sheila’s house was a short walk from where Elisa lived, but so was Mike’s.

Mom gave her a funny look as she walked out the door, wearing one of her prettiest dresses. Elisa held her breath, but Mom didn’t say anything about it. She wanted to look especially nice when Jeremy kissed her for the first time. But even the fifteen-year-old didn’t know why it mattered that she also had her nicest and, in her Mom’s opinion, most “adult” bra and panties on, the off-white set with the thin, frilly lace.

Elisa felt pretty conspicuous standing there on the corner where Jeremy told her to wait, but then he wheeled up on his bike just a few minutes later.

“Hi.” He was winded as he got off his bike, like he’d pedaled hard all the way there. She was a little disappointed because he was dressed in an ordinary t-shirt and jeans.

“Hi.” She was shy and embarrassed. Was he really going to take her into that basement with the other kids?

“You look pretty.” He smiled at her. Jeremy had a really nice smile, and she loved looking into his eyes.

“Thank you.” She giggled a little and blushed.

Jeremy parked his bike out front on Mike’s lawn. It wasn’t the only one. He took her hand and didn’t even bother to knock, just opened the front door and led her in.

“Where is everybody? Why didn’t Mike answer the door?”

“Probably down in the basement with his girlfriend and whoever else is here.”

Elisa suddenly felt cheap. She wanted to have her first romantic kiss, and she really thought Jeremy was the one, but now she wasn’t so sure. He was still holding her hand as he opened the door to the basement. The stairs were dimly lit, but beyond that, there was nothing at the bottom but a black maw, like an open, hungry mouth.

They walked down, step by step, as if each one was a set of teeth and the basement was going to eat them.

At the bottom of the stairs, there was just enough light to see the vague shadows of sofas and the kids on them. There were only two other couples as far as Elisa could tell. One pair must be Mike and his girlfriend Colleen. Jeremy led her to a couch furthest from the stairs and gently helped her sit down at one end. Then he sat down right beside her and put his arm around her.

It was finally going to happen and she was so nervous. She’d never kissed a boy before, and especially had never been alone in the dark with a boy before.

Except they weren’t alone. She could hear breathing noises, the sound of kissing, clothes rustling, was that a zipper unzipping?

There were little moaning and mewing sounds, both girl and boy voices.

“Please.” A girl was whispering, but Elisa couldn’t tell if it was “please stop” or “please more.”

Jeremy’s face was close to her’s. She tried to block out everything else except him, but she kept remembering all the stories about the basement.

Alice Barker told Maria Sanchez that she heard Latisha James had lost her virginity right here on one of the couches. Elisa didn’t believe it. Who would take their clothes off, even though it was almost pitch black, in a basement with a bunch of other kids listening, let alone really go all the way?

She felt Jeremy’s hand caress her face. He pulled her toward him, tilted her head up, and she closed her eyes and let her lips part slightly as he softly, tenderly gave Elisa her first kiss.

It felt sweet and he lingered. She wasn’t sure how long it was supposed to last, but then it was over. She smiled even though he couldn’t see her face, just a shadow. He was coming closer again. Their lips were touching. He kissed her and she was kissing back. Elisa felt embarrassed because she knew her kisses were awkward. She felt Jeremy’s tongue running over her lips, then realized he was trying to french her.

His arm got tighter around her and he pressed his tongue in harder against her teeth.

“What’s wrong?” He sounded concerned, but he didn’t understand.

“Go easy, okay?”

“Sure.”

He kissed again and she let her arms slowly slip around him. He felt him holding her close. He was so strong. Jeremy pressed his body closer. He was moving something over her hip. It was his…his…it felt so hard. How had he gotten so excited so fast?

Elisa thought she heard a girl moaning on a nearby sofa…or was it her?

He was rubbing his hands all over her back, up over her neck and then into her hair. It felt so nice to be touched that way while kissing. She felt his tongue again, and as she took a breath, she opened her teeth and his tongue slipped inside and touched her’s. This time it really was her moaning.

Then his hand moved around from her back to her side, but it didn’t stop. He moved it over her boob and started to rub her through her dress and bra.

She pulled away. “Don’t.” She grabbed his hand with hers and moved it back to her side.

He didn’t say anything, just kept kissing her, frenching her. He was moving so fast. Elisa was getting more than nervous now. She was a little afraid.

“Just let it happen, little one. It will be okay. You know you like it.”

Elisa pulled back abruptly and looked around.

“What’s wrong?”

There was no one there. For a second, Elisa thought it was Mike’s Mom, but the basement was still dark and all she could hear where the sounds of the other kids making out. She must have imagined it.

Jeremy started kissing her again, rubbing her back and sides, moving his body against her’s a little. He was making little sounds, sexy sounds, but she wasn’t ready for any of that. Then his hand moved back over her breast. Elisa could feel his finger and thumb gently squeezing her nipple. It got harder as he rubbed it, but why?

She moaned again and reached up to grab his wrist. She tried to pull his hand away but he resisted. He was still kissing her, his tongue deep in her mouth now. She couldn’t pull back, couldn’t talk, couldn’t tell him “no.”

It was the same voice, but it wasn’t a voice. She could only hear it inside her head.

“No, I’m a good girl. He’s going too fast. I’m not ready.” She wasn’t talking out loud, only to the voice in her head.

“Good girls like bad boys, Elisa. Just let it happen. He won’t go all the way the first time. But you can let him make you feel good.”

The voice really did sound like Mike’s Mom, but how could she be in her head?

Elisa was grateful when Jeremy stopped rubbing her nipple, but then he moved his hand to the collar of her dress. He unbuttoned the top button.

She pulled away fast and hissed, “Jeremy!”

“It’s okay. What do you think the other kids are doing here?”

She looked past him to another couple. She couldn’t tell for sure, but the other girl’s top might be open. Was she letting her boyfriend inside her bra? What would she do if Jeremy did that to her?

“Just lay back and relax. You liked it when he rubbed your nipple. You wore your prettiest bra and panties for him.”

Elisa pressed her legs tight together at the mention of her panties, but when she closed her legs, she couldn’t stop herself from squeezing. It felt so good. No, she shouldn’t. What was he doing?

Jeremy had unbuttoned the top of her dress and his hand was inside. She was confused and scared. “Please, don’t.”

His hand was over her boob, over her bra. His touching felt so intense now.

“Admit it, little girl. You like it. You want him to touch you there. He’s your boyfriend. It’s okay to let him.”

“No, Jeremy. Please, no.”

The lights snapped on, and a gruff male voice shouted, “What the hell is going on down there?”

“Dad!” It was Mike. “What are you doing home?”

Elisa buttoned up her top as fast as she could. Mike had moved in front of Colleen who pulled her bra back down over her naked boobs, and then struggled to button her blouse.

“I live here, remember? Who’s down there with you?” Heavy footfalls sounded on the stairs as Mr. Kresky descended upon them.

Elisa heard the voice in her head, but it was really faint now. “Oh great. Here comes the buzzkill.”

He was to the bottom of the stairs and looking around. “What are all these kids doing here. You, get dressed!” A couple in the corner were both pulling their jeans back up.

“Everybody, get the hell out of here.” He moved into the center of the basement and Elisa ran to the stairs and up, not even waiting for Jeremy. The sound of everyone climbing up behind her sounded like a stampede in those old western movies Grandpa used to watch.

As she got to the top of the stairs, she heard Mike’s Dad bellow, “Where the hell is your Mom?”

Elisa was out the front door when she heard Jeremy behind her, “Hey, wait up.”

She didn’t stop until she was on the sidewalk. Her boyfriend walked up to her. Behind him, the other kids were scattering, some leaving on bikes and others running.

“Are you okay?”

Elisa was crying. She was embarrassed. Looking down, she saw she missed one of the buttons on her dress and quickly fastened it.

“That was horrible.”

“I swear I had no idea Mr. Kresky was going to bust in like that.”

“No, not just that. Everything.” She looked up and into his eyes. Jeremy seemed hurt, but why should he be? “It was too fast. I’m, you know…not that kind of girl.” Elisa listened for the voice in her head to tell her otherwise, but she wasn’t there anymore.

“I’m sorry. I thought you’d like it. All the other kids in the basement like it.”

“Other kids? You mean other girls, don’t you?” She wasn’t the first. He’d been down there with others. Who? How far did they go with him?

“It’s not like that.”

“I’m going home now.”

“Can’t we talk? Let’s go to the park for a while.”

She turned and started walking toward home. “I have to go. I’ll see you at school on Monday.” She didn’t look back.

“Okay, see you Monday.”

Elisa thought about stopping at Sheila’s like she told her parents she would, but she was the girl who had to pull up her pants when Mr. Kresky turned on the basement lights.

She felt hurt and disappointed. She thought Jeremy was different, but he wasn’t. He was just like all the other boys. He only wanted sex, not love.

Elisa was halfway home and starting to calm down. What was the voice in the basement? It sounded like Mrs. Kresky, but it couldn’t have been. Where did she go when Mr. Kresky was out of town?

There was something else in Mike Kresky’s basement besides kids making out. She hated the voice. Elisa hated it because it she was right. When Jeremy put his hands inside her top and rubbed her…part of her liked it. That made her hate herself, too.

I didn’t want to write a “coming of age” story, although I almost did, but then I thought of something more sinister. Just who is Mike’s Mom and where does she go when her husband is out of town? Why is Mike’s basement such a popular spot for kids to make out in? Maybe it’s not just the usual teenage desires being played out down there.

If you click the link above, you’ll see where I got the title for today’s missive. As far as “Mike Kresky’s basement” is concerned, it’s a line delivered in the 2003 film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines by Kate Brewster (played by Claire Daniels) to John Connor (Nick Stahl) when, as adults, she recognizes him because as “tweens,” they’d made out together in Mike Kresky’s basement. I can’t find the quote online, but I distinctly remember that piece of dialog.

One of the things I discovered when writing the Summer stories was the difference between sex and love is when the characters involved start to listen to each other and not the voices in their heads. This was a good take on the prompt James. I’m sure similar scenarios happen all the time. I also like that you allowed Eliza to come to her own conclusions about what she did and didn’t like about the encounter. Thanks so much for contributing your ideas this week.

The question is whether or not Mike’s Mom is some sort of supernatural entity “possessing” the basement and manipulating teenagers and their emotions, or if Elisa was experiencing the dissonance between her fantasies of what love should be like and her body’s biological responses.